What a blessing she had chloroform
Subtitle: the medical and social response to the pain of childbirth from 1800 to the present
By: Donald Caton.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 288
Subjects: Anesthesia in obstetrics -- History.; Pain -- Prevention -- History.
Description: This book describes in fascinating detail the history of the use of anesthesia in childbirth and in so doing offers a unique perspective on the interaction between medical science and social values. Dr. Donald Caton traces the responses of physicians and their patients to the pain of childbirth from the popularization of anesthesia to the natural childbirth movement and beyond. He finds that physicians discovered what could be done to manage pain, and patients decided what would be done.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-277) and index.